Isolation of a New Type A Coxsackie Virus

Discussion and SummaryAn agent with all of the characteristics of a group A Coxsackie virus was isolated in suckling mice. No serological relationship could be established to any of the recognized Coxsackie virus or other enterovirus prototypes.Attempts to demonstrate antibody to the virus in the normal population have been unsuccessful, but reisolation 3 times from the original fecal specimen confirms the human origin of this virus. Failure to detect antibody in randomly collected blood specimens may in our opinion reflect the infrequent occurrence of the virus and probably the poor antigenicity of the strain in man rather than represent contrary evidence of the human origin. The strain has been submitted to the Panel for Picornaviruses for approval as a new member of the Coxsackie virus A group.